Week 14: "He can even work through a watermelon."

Hello!!

OK SO this week was like literally the best weak of my entire mission so far. Like honestly SO many cool things happened and we had sooooo many miracles that were just clear and obvious blessings from the Lord. But like seriously this week was awesome.

1. K so coming in at number one we had a lesson with a mother named Aglae and her family. We have been visiting them for a few weeks now, and about 3 years ago she was about to be baptized but she was not married with her boyfriend and so she could not, but nonetheless she still wanted us to come back. In of the lessons, we begged and begged to get her boyfriend to say the closing prayer and he was just too nervous and embarrassed, but my companion and I really pushed him and he finally did it. It was awesome but what was even better was when we came back and talked to them. We talked about how families can be together for ever, and how the Gospel is specifically designed for the families, and the spirit was very strong in the room. At the conclusion, we invited Aglae to say the prayer and she just straight up was like no sorry no chance. But we pushed her a little bit, her husband even started to encourage her, and instead of waiting to see if she would, we just closed our eyes and bowed our heads and just waited until she would do it. She kept being like no no i cant i cant or sorry now, but after about 20 seconds of just dead (and kind of awkward.. ) silence, I finally heard the beginning of what was one of the most powerful prayers I have heard thus far on my mission. As she finished I literally got up and fist pumped the air because I was so happy. This family is just so special and its a beautiful thing to watch them grow back together as the spirit enters their lives.

2. We had just finished a Zone meeting and we were walking up a street when two rando`s just shouted our names from their car and invited us to eat. At first I was like food yes and then thought k rando`s no. But it turns out that they were actually gringos from Utah that were visiting the area because the father was here with his daughter and she is going to serve here in a month! We had some time to meet with them and filled the daughter in on how awesome her mission is going to be. Super cool.

3. We stopped and chatted with these two dudes selling watermelons in the straight. As we began talking, they told us that they had just finished talking with the sister Missionaries about 2 hours prior, and the craziest thing happened. They hadn't been having any success with selling watermelons, and they thought they would just pack up and leave but then here came these sister missionaries, and they began to chat. Within the 15 minutes that the sisters were there, 6 people had come by to buy a watermelon. The sister missionaries told him this was no coincidence, and that God was giving him a taste of the blessings that lie ahead. They left him with a Book of Mormon, and then they came to our area where they met us. Now, as we had spent a few minutes talking, this guy was so shocked at the success they had while the missionaries were with them that he couldn't stop talking about how surprised he was. I told him that it was no coincidence, and that it was God working through these means. He then told me that if it was true, that if someone were to come to buy a watermelon within the hour, he would go to church the following Sunday, convinced it was not just by chance. ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AFTER HE SAID THOSE WORDS, a lady came by bought a watermelon, and the man was left in awe. I bore my testimony, told him of my knowledge of the church, and then bought a watermelon myself just so he would know that there the miracles of God are not coincidental.

4. Elder Bake, my new companion, is a stud. We literally have a blast together, and even though we are both gringos, we talk more Spanish than I did before, and are helping each other learn tremendously. We woke up early one morning and ran to the ocean, took a swim (SYKE!), skipped a couple rocks, and then jogged back.

5. I was reading in Job this week because he is just a stud and I came across a scripture that is so sweet I want to share it with you guys, "Happy is he whom the Lord correcteth, therefore, DESPISE NOT THE CHASTENING OF THE ALMIGHTY. (Job 5:17) Like come on you don't have to read scripture to know that that is so awesome. The lord corrects us to make us stronger. When you are facing a challenge or you feel like life is beating you up, just know it is for your best benefit.

There were literally so many other little miracles that happened this last week that would take forever to tell and I am running out of time, but basically I am just loving life so much. I am having the best of times right now in my mission and things are only getting better. Hope you all are doing well, you are enjoying that summer season coming up, and living life to the fullest. Les amo a todos!

Elder Bernal